California Code Library · Topic
Property taxes: reassessment and transfer taxes
Get help with a purchase, tax bill, ownership change or assessment appeal.
Collected laws, guidance and procedures organized by subject, plus the transfer-tax chapters of 25 city and county codes. Where a code is listed section by section, the library holds those sections, not the whole code.
Your tax guide
Your situationBuying property · House / condoChange
Your selected situation · House / condo
I am planning to buy
Estimate ownership costs before relying on a purchase price or old tax bill.
Can I use the previous owner’s tax bill as my budget?
Use it as a starting record, not a forecast. A purchase or other ownership change can trigger reassessment. Ask the assessor how the transaction will be evaluated and separate recurring property taxes from other charges.
Have these ready
- Existing bill and assessed value
- Purchase details and assessor’s estimate or explanation
Are transfer taxes the same as annual property taxes?
Treat them as separate questions. Check state and local transfer-tax provisions for the transaction and location, then ask the recorder or closing professional to explain the proposed charges and any claimed exemption.
Have these ready
- Property location and transaction documents
- Itemized closing charges and exemption basis
Planning checklist. Confirm the property-specific answer with the responsible agency, organizer or adviser.
Does transferring an LLC or trust avoid reassessment?
Do not assume that leaving the deed unchanged avoids a property-tax event. Legal-entity ownership and control changes have separate rules and reporting. Have the actual transaction structure reviewed.
Have these ready
- Ownership percentages before and after the transaction
- Entity or trust documents and transfer dates
What you should have next
Separate estimates for annual tax, transaction charges and possible reassessment.
These starting points help you gather facts and find the right source. Sale terms, deadlines and eligibility depend on the actual property and transaction. Official guidance is linked directly; it is not a guarantee that every situation is covered. Guide prepared October 1, 2026. Check the linked publisher for updates.
Browse source documents by subject
Choose a category or a specific subject to see its collected documents. Use full-text search when you need words inside a document.
Assessment & base-year value
Property assessment and Proposition 13 base-year rules.
- Valuation & base-year value →
How property values are assessed and recorded under base-year rules.
- New construction & supplemental assessment →
Assessments following new construction and supplemental tax assessment material.
Change in ownership & reassessment
Transfers that do or do not trigger reassessment.
- Sales & ownership transfers →
Sales and other ownership changes considered for reassessment.
- Entities & trusts →
Ownership changes involving companies, partnerships and trusts.
Inheritance, gifts & exclusions
Trust transfers, Proposition 19 and transfer exclusions.
- Inheritance & family transfers →
Inherited property, gifts and family-transfer exclusion material.
- Base-year value transfers →
Transferring a base-year value to a replacement home.
Property-tax exemptions
Homeowner, veteran, welfare and other exemptions.
- Homeowners & veterans →
Exemption guidance and forms for homeowners and veterans.
- Welfare & nonprofit property →
Exemptions for qualifying welfare, nonprofit and other organizational property.
Tax bills, payments & delinquency
Installments, penalties, collection and liens.
- Bills, installments & penalties →
Reading tax bills, paying installments and understanding late-payment penalties.
- Collection & tax liens →
Property-tax collection procedures and liens for unpaid taxes.
State & local transfer taxes
Documentary and local real-property transfer taxes.
- Documentary transfer tax →
State documentary transfer-tax provisions and related guidance.
- City & county transfer taxes →
City and county transfer-tax rules, including local code chapters.
Special taxes & assessments
Mello-Roos and property-related special assessments.
- Mello-Roos & special districts →
Mello-Roos taxes and other special-district tax material.
- Special assessments →
Property assessments for local improvements and assessment districts.
Assessment appeals & refunds
Challenge an assessment or request a correction or refund.
- Assessment appeals →
Applications, hearings and procedures for challenging an assessed value.
- Corrections & refunds →
Correcting assessment or tax records and requesting refunds.
The law, verbatim
Property tax rules (18 CCR)
The State Board of Equalization's rules for when a transfer is a change in ownership that triggers reassessment.
City and county transfer taxes
The transfer-tax chapters inside the city and county codes the library holds — the tax a sale pays on top of the state's. Many more cities levy one; this list covers the codes collected so far.
- Adelanto — Chapter 3.35 — Real Property Documentary Transfer Tax
- Agoura Hills — Chapter 2 — Uniform Real Property Transfer Tax
- Alameda County — Chapter 2.04 — Real Property Transfer Tax
- Albany — § 4-5 — Real Property Transfer Tax
- Aliso Viejo — Chapter 3.10 — Real Property Documentary Transfer Tax
- Alpine County — Chapter 3.20 — Real Property Transfer Tax
- Amador County — Chapter 3.20 — Real Property Transfer Tax
- American Canyon — Chapter 3.16 — Real Property Transfer Tax
- Anaheim — Chapter 2.10 — Documentary Transfer Tax
- Anderson — Chapter 3.32 — Real Property Transfer Tax
- Angels Camp — Chapter 3.04 — Real Property Transfer Tax
- Antioch — Chapter 6 — Real Property Transfer Tax
- Apple Valley — Chapter 3.22 — Real Property Documentary Transfer Tax
- Arcadia — Part 8 — Realty Transfer Tax
- Artesia — Article 1 — Real Property Transfer Taxes
- Arvin — Chapter 3.12 — Real Property Transfer Tax
- Atwater — Chapter 3.36 — Real Property Transfer Tax
- Avenal — Chapter 4 — Real Property Transfer Taxes
- Danville — § 3-3 — Real Property Transfer Tax
- Gridley — Chapter 3.08 — Real Property Transfer Tax
- Los Angeles — § 21.9.2 — Real property transfer tax imposed (incl. the 2022 voter-approved rates over $5 million)
- San Diego County — Chapter 3 — Real Property Transfer Tax
- San Jose — Chapter 4.59 — Real Property Transfer Tax
- Santa Monica — Chapter 6.96 — Real Property Transfer Tax
- Windsor — Chapter 1 — Documentary Transfer Tax
Other topics
Development & building
What can be built and how: the Title 24 building codes, every city and county zoning code, and the state planning, environmental and development-finance law above them.
Buying & selling
The rules for the people who carry a sale: real estate licensing, broker supervision, trust funds and the Real Estate Commissioner's regulations.
Renting & eviction
Rent caps, just cause, deposits, repairs and entry, the eviction lawsuit itself, and the fair-housing rules every rental decision is read against.
Owning & HOAs
What comes with holding a property: HOA disclosures, assessments and disputes, loan servicing, homeowners insurance, trusts, and passing a home on at death.
Foreclosure & auctions
The law and official process for trustee's sales, tax-defaulted property, judgment enforcement, probate sales and bankruptcy.
GoCodebook provides public access, search, citation, multilingual explanation, and practical interpretation of legally adopted building regulations. It is not a substitute for the official ICC or California code publications.